First Time Buyer Mortgages
First time buyer mortgages are not what they were! As UK property prices have risen, first time home buyers have found it harder and harder to get onto the first rung of the property ladder. Gone are the days when a first time buyer could simply multiply an annual salary by two-and-a-half and see what first time buyer mortgage that would secure him! Now you need to save for a good deposit before you look fro a mortgage.
Parents seem to be increasingly resigned to bailing out offspring wrestling with student debt, the high cost of living and high property prices. Research from Abbey shows that already one in seven first time buyers are now given money from their parents, who may have take out an equity release mortgage on their own home to provide the finance. And one in 17 borrows money from parents, with the average loan standing at £19,619! It's worth a try- they might be keener than you realise to get you to move out.
Finding out what your first mortgage will be and how much it will cost, is an important factor in seeing if you can afford your first property. In fact, the market has become so ‘tough' for those lenders selling first time buyer mortgages that they have had to be uncharacteristically innovative. On the other hand, the 'credit crunch' has meant that first time buyers need to be less of a risk to the lenders so we will see more guarantor mortgages, mortgages with parents or parent helping with the deposits to reduce the amount of mortgage required.
Mortgage lenders who have risen to the challenge now offer a whole raft of innovative first time buyer mortgages. Examples are: first time mortgages based on how much rent you've been paying, a mortgage which takes into account potential lodger income, mortgages for parents buying with or helping to financing a child, shared ownership mortgages - there is a vast array of first time buyer mortgages for those looking for a first mortgage.
Your first and most important step is to seek specialist first time buyer mortgage advice. Good mortgage advisors will know about all the UK first time buyer mortgage deals going at any one time.
Examples of first time buyer mortgages currently available